Dear Pupils and Parents:

Welcome back to a new year at School, I

hope you had a lovely summer break.

We have started the year with a fairly full cohort; 28 pupils

in the main school and 7 in the alternative provision.

We have two newly qualified teachers although both are

already known to the school; Mr Abdus Samad and Mr Davies.

We would like to congratulate them on their qualification and

hard work last year. We also currently have an agency teacher

Miss Malone covering the year 2 class. We will be advertising

the post this term.

The progress results for the school were disappointing last

year so we have a real focus on Literacy and maths this year,

with a new maths scheme in place and some new comprehension

resources for Literacy. We would really welcome your support

in ensuring your son or daughter complete their homework and

remember to bring it back in as this does help them to make

better progress.

Littledown School has been collaborating with Stoneworks

Education Ltd to produce Case Study leaflets, for primary

schools and parents of new students, which outline the positive

interventions, behaviour strategies and success stories

achieved by school during the past few years.

These Case Studies demonstrate how students make positive

progress both academically and personally during their time

at Littledown and the leaflet was the perfect medium to

record their story.

The case studies highlight school experiences and parental

concerns, and the information provided will support other

parents who have the same issues or have similar thoughts

about special school education.

We will be including a different case study with every monthly

newsletter.

If you would like to leave any feedback regarding the case

studies, please email post@littledown.slough.sch.uk

Enabling Enterprise Littledown Special School in Slough supports children with social, emotional and

mental health difficulties. Staff aim to empower pupils with self-confidence, devel-

oping their ability to respect others and themselves. This year, Littledown have

partnered with Enabling Enterprise to support students to develop life skills such

as Working in a Team, Leading and Listening Carefully. Today was their first Chal-

lenge Day, with the whole school taking part in A Day in Politics

With the UK General Election less than one month away, students up and down the

country are learning about the British values of democracy and freedom to vote.

Littledown went one step further today and put the students in charge as they

took on the role of politicians for the day.

They Shared Ideas about how to make the school and the country a better place.

Ideas ranged from adding a swimming pool to the school grounds to reduce travel

time to swimming lessons, to installing a sensory pod in every classroom. Students

Listened Carefully to one another and voted on their favourite ideas. They also

came up with names for their new parties, including Littledown Democrats, and

chose colours and slogans to become part of their branding. The budding politicians

Used Imagination to create their own promotional rosettes.

Upcoming Enabling Enterprise Year 5 and 6 will soon be completing Projects for Enabling Enterprise, their project

will be called Brilliant Books

Year 5 and 6 will also be going to Thames Water for the day to experience and

learn what happens there.

We are introducing 2 Eskimos which is a new

reading assessment. This can be completed

on IPads and allows staff to assess reading

and understanding of texts. Staff enjoyed the

training and had a go at assessing each others

reading—some were better than others!

Penny and

Mr Abdus-Samad’s

needed help logging

on!

Mr Davies struggling with

a text!

End of

Term

Awards

Events coming up

Enrichment afternoon Monday 2nd October

Black History day Tuesday 3rd October

Pantomime Thursday 16th November

Forest Schools Sessions have

started for Saturn and Mars

classes this term. They will

spend the rest of the autumn

term exploring the woodlands

at Black Park and learning some

basic bush craft skills at

school.

We have already built a rope

swing, a den and even discov-

ered some world war 2 archae-

ology! We have also met lots of

wildlife, spending time feeding

the birds on the lake, and even

getting to know the local

squirrels.

Attendance:

Being at school consistently is one the best ways to help your child to

be successful. When students are absent, they miss out on vital work

which may make them fall behind.

Students should be at school no later then 9am, so that they are in

their classroom and ready to learn.

Classes for this year:

Saturn Year 6 — Mr Winter

Jupiter Year 6 — Mr Davies

Mercury Year 5 — Mr Abdus-Samad

Mars Year 4 — Ms Heaffey

Pluto Year 3 — Mr Kapila

Comet Year 2 — Miss Malone

Nurture — Mrs Hughes

Important Dates:

Assessment Week 9th—13th October

Half-Term holiday 23rd October-27th October

Inset Day Monday 16th October

IEP Day Monday 30th October

Inset Day Wednesday 22nd November

End of term Monday 18th December

School Photographer Tuesday 20th March 2018

Why is it Important to be in School on Time?

It’s important to be punctual as it teaches children how to be on time for work in the future.

Children will have time to catch up with friends before first lesson. It is important that children do not miss any work at the start of the

lesson. When they are late, it is harder for them to catch up and they do not feel they are part of the group.

Children should take an active part in all lesson activities from the start.

Arriving late will cause disruption to the teacher and other students.

Attendance and Attainment

Our school aims for each child to have a 100% attendance record. Children must come to school every day. Our school’s attendance tar-

get is 95% but we always aim for 100%. Our aim is for children to learn so that they can achieve their goals. Children need to get the best results they can to secure their dream

jobs. If a child is not in school, he or she is falling behind and it’s harder to

catch up. Your child may feel discouraged, confused or left out. If a child is genuinely ill, the school needs a medical note or a tele-

phone call by 9am so their absence is authorised. For frequent absences a medical evidence form will need to be completed.

Try to book medical appointments outside of school hours. Remember – if a child takes one day off every week, at the end of the

school year, it will give a total of nearly eight weeks off school.

Attendance Procedures

A child may be placed as an attendance concern as a form of support to improve attendance if the child is below 92% attendance.

Parents may be invited to a meeting at school to discuss ways of help-ing improve their child’s attendance.

Parents may receive a letter from school notifying them about their child’s attendance.

Parents may receive a phone call home regarding their child’s attend-ance and/or punctuality.

A child’s good attendance will contribute to great attainment.

Extended Leave

Families should take holidays in school holidays. All absences in term time due to going on holiday or any other reasons for extended leave

will be unauthorised. Extra time off during term time will affect your child’s attendance and attainment. Your child will miss: Valuable lessons

Social time

Possible educational visits and trips

If your child is taken out of school on extended leave in term time, you may be fined (£60 per parent per child).

Action for Littledown on Term-Time Absence Requests

Request for leave of

absence

Are there clear

exceptional circum-

No

Are there possible

exceptional circum-

stances? Consider

additional

Are there possible

exceptional circum-Yes

Yes Authorised

Refer to

governors

No

Is the application for

more than 10 ses-

sions?

No Refer to gover-

nors

Yes

Unauthorised

absence and

penalty notice